PLEASE NOTE:
*
Date sent: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 15:04:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Benny J Peiser <B.J.PEISER@livjm.ac.uk>
Subject: NATURAL CATASTROPHES IN THE BIBLE
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.ac.uk
Priority: NORMAL
NATURAL DISASTERS RECORDED IN THE BIBLE: FACT OR FICTION?
I have come across yet another, more speculative paper on
legendary
heroes, sudden enviromental events and natural disasters in the
Bible
which might be of interest to the archaeo-astronomers, geologists
and
historians among list members.
Benny J Peiser
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A. Benmenahem: Cross-Dating of Biblical History via singular
Astronomical and Geophysical Events over the Ancient Near-East.
In:
QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 1992,
Vol.33, No.3, pp.175-190
Biblical allusions to eclipses, solar activity cycles, comet
apparitions, super-nova explosions, bolide impacts, paroxysmal
eruptions and major earthquakes, during 2000-300 BC, are examined
in
the light of recent historical catalogues. It is shown that
spectacular environmental phenomena, that sampled the remote past
periodically and semi-periodically, have occurred over the
heavens,
seas and terrains of the Near East and indeed impacted the minds
of
prophets, kings and scribes of the lands of the Bible. Thus
evidence
is produced to show that the prophets Joel, Zachariah, Habakkuk,
Isaiah and Amos witnessed certain comets, eclipses and
earthquakes.
So did King David, Judge Deborah, Joshua and Abraham. The
surmised
dates of these events assist us in setting bounds for the
life-span
of biblical celebrities and for some of the acts in which they
participated. Epigraphical and archaeological evidence are in
accord
with our findings. It is made clear that although the Bible did
not
favour secular science, it contains echoes of singular
environmental
events, the dating of which can be harnessed to establish some
order
in biblical chronology.